Page 128 of We Are Yours
She cried with a low sob. The consequences she’d have to pay. It was all there, right there in front of her.
Me.
Lost in my own thoughts, in my own conviction, I fumed, “This is my life, Melody. There’s no turning back for me. You stole my childhood. Seven. Fucking. Years.”
Tears rolled down the sides of her face, and I counted each one.
“For years, I made excuses for you, and I just couldn’t do it anymore,” I scoffed out, pausing to let my words sink in. “You will always be nothing but a drunk, an addict, a sorry-ass excuse for a mother. We deserved better than you and so did Isla.”
Her chest rising and falling, contemplating what to say. I could see her mind spinning out of control. Opening her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.
I couldn’t shield her anymore.
Not from demons.
Her truths.
Her future with us.
The failure she was.
“Julius, I…” she whispered, crying deeply. “My only job was to protect you, but I failed you both.”
“Enough with the sob story! You didn’t even try!”
I heard the front door open. In seconds, Kraven walked into the kitchen with Isla behind him.
“What the hell is going on?” he asked, looking back and forth between us.
You could feel the tension in the air. It was heavy, thick, suffocating.
“What is she doing here?”
“Kraven, I—” She saw Isla standing against the frame, her arms folded over her chest.
She looked like she’d been crying all night, making me feel worse for leaving. I couldn’t see her cry again.
Not for Melody.
“I’m so sorry, Isla,” she expressed, trying to walk over to her. “I didn’t mean to?—”
“Enough!” I ordered, grabbing her arm and holding her in place.
She wasn’t going to get anywhere near Isla.
* * *
Not now and not ever again.
Chapter
Forty-Three
Julius
“You stay away from her!”
“Julius—”
